Showing Your Home To Buyers

Present your home at its very best!

When you’re serious about selling your home, getting people through the door for showings is a high priority. It’s their chance to to get first hand experience of your home, so they can start imagining themselves buying it. For showings to work well, you need flexibility in scheduling, and you need everything looking at its very best. If you have already prepared your home for the market then getting ready to show your property to buyers is a breeze!

Here's our advice.

1. Be available. Whenever is good for them is good for you

It’s never simple to coordinate showings when you’re still living in your home and working during the day, or with family around. But, especially in the early days of selling it’s so important to be flexible and make your property available for a showing whatever time and day a potential buyer wants to come around. Often home buyers make a list of several properties to view, and if you’re not free at the right time you might not get a look in. To help with last minute requests, come up with a plan to cope with minimum stress.

2. Be safe. Use a lockbox

When other people are entering your property for showings, you want peace of mind. A lockbox gives you that, and more.

A lockbox is a secure way to track visitors and limit access to the showing times that are convenient for you. It’s a great way to allow agents to coordinate showings during the week, which all helps to give you a better chance of selling your home.

A lockbox keeps track of all the people accessing your property, which means if there’s a problem, you can quickly find out who was responsible.

And a lockbox offers the facility for recording feedback on property showings, which is gold dust information you and your realtor will be able to use for adjusting your marketing strategy where necessary.

3. Be well lit. Turn all the lights on

Get your lights are switched on. All of them. It saves people having to look for switches, and it literally shows your home in the best light. Light is a great feel good factor, and it brightens up everyone’s day. We recommend:

open any curtains and other window coverings

if you have CFLs that need a longer warm up time, make sure they you flick the switch in time for them to be shining their brightest during the showing.

whether it’s light or dark outside, whatever the hour, keep those lights on the for the whole showing. During the evening it makes for a welcoming atmosphere. And even when the sun is shining outside, your lights will lift any shadows and wake up the whole house.

4. Be clean and tidy. Clear your clutter

When you’re living in a home that you’re also trying to sell, it can be tough to keep it clean and tidy, especially for last minute showings. But the challenge is much easier if you do your best to keep it reasonably clear the whole time. Here are the top cleaning and clutter-free areas to focus on:

wipe the sinks and counter tops in the bathroom and kitchen.

put away any toys and washing, completely out of sight.

make a priority of the entrance to your home, and also the kitchen. Those are the most important spaces for buyers. After that, make sure the bathroom and bedrooms are looking their best. Time and again we’ve found those areas tend to be key for people choosing for or against a property.

5. Be quiet. No background music

Getting the right atmosphere for a potential buyer to view your home is simple. But trust us on this - your favorite music will probably get in the way. Not everyone loves your playlist, and they need the headspace to imagine themselves at home here. Don’t use music or movies to try to disguise unwanted noises. Only turn on your sound system it if your home has a dedicated media area you want to showcase as part of the sale.

6. Be out of the house if possible

The best idea is to be well out of the way during any home showing. That way the realtor and the potential buyers won’t feel inhibited as they take a good look around. If you do have a good reason to have to stay in the house, make sure you leave the agent to do their work rather than following the party around from room to room. If you're working, or you have to be there to care for young children, try to restrict yourself to the bedroom or office area, so those viewing not to have to get in conversation with the current home owners.

7. Be kind to your pets, and your potential buyers

Even if the clients at a showing love your pets, you want them to keep their full attention on your house. What's more, there are those potential buyers who aren’t pet lovers, or might have a fear of pets. Having your pet on the scene could throw a potential sale at a crucial moment. So, if possible, keep your animals out of the house completely during a showing, or confine them to a your backyard or garage if there's no option. Make a confident and stress-free plan ahead of time so that you know exactly how you intend to care for your pet in the event of a last minute viewing.

8. Be generous. Leave a snack and a drink for buyers

Imagine how its feel to be out and about all day house hunting in Brevard County, and feeling the heat. Why not provide just a few bottles of water and maybe have a snack or two available to re-energise flagging buyers so they don’t need to rush off from your property.

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National Realty of Brevard Inc.

A member of the Space Coast Association of Realtors® with over 53 years experience in buying and selling real estate.